home on a friday

after weeks of busy Fridays
after weeks of traveling Fridays

Today I was home and planning on sitting on my computer for a while.
I managed for a bit and then life kicked in and I moved on to something else.

The girls and I spent a little time in Minnesota,
traversing different parts of the state and putting on a few miles.
At one point I wondered if I hadn't passed the same gas station 6 times.
And that gas station wasn't in any metro area.

We left in this ....

When I asked why we were boarding the plane, I was told that they were trying to beat the first
good monsoon storm in Phoenix.
Uhm.
"Honey, it is in the parking lot" was my response.
In case you missed the posts on FB or the news media ... this is what it looked like from the air.
We waited on the ground. 15 to 20 minutes ... another 15 minutes ... and yet another 15 minutes.
I'd much rather sit and wait for the airport to reopen and the runway to be cleared of debris.
Much rather.

I had rented a car with the thought that our luggage would fit in the trunk. The girls and I figured it would work. The benefit of flying into Minneapolis in the middle of the night is that you upgrade free of charge very quickly. Thank goodness for that! We were a little over confident I think. It must be a traveling with girls and baby thing. I've never packed so many shoes as I did this time. And that red duffel bag you see there ... that was mine. Did pretty good!

Anna, Tia and I were in Minnesota for nearly 6 days before Alyx and Sebastian joined us.
We are going to do this again ...
I've suggested a weekend in San Diego for our next girl getaway.

After oodles of miles, thousands (I'm not kidding.) of people, celebratory events on both sides of the family and visits with many friends along the way ....

we woke our last morning in Minnesota to delicious temps of 56 degrees.
We ran from rain clouds as we spent hours waiting for a delayed flight, running from shop to store looking for a donut and coffee ...
finding a few other treats along the way.

Our fellow young traveler was more than ready to get back to his own routines at home
... and his daddy.
Don't you just want to reach into this picture and nuzzle those cheeks?
Seriously.
He's such a cuddle bug and smiley.
Unless it is 9:30ish pm and he isn't at home.
Then maybe there isn't a smile to be found and he isn't interested in anything other than making loud unpleasant noises.

I'll be back with some more pictures. As usual, my camera doesn't have nearly enough on it but my heart and memory are full of images, visits and experiences.

And that, my friends, is what I cherish most.